^OL. I. No. 9. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



141 



TOBAGO: REPORT 



STATIOX, lUni^j. By M,-. 



OX THE HOTAXIG 

 H. >[ilk'n, Cuiatoi'. 



The Iiniierial Oraiit-in-aicl uf this station (£500) was 

 supiik'iiieiitetl by the Goveniiiieiit of Trinidad U> the extent 

 of i:150 for estalilisliing tliis new station, and a house was 

 Ijuilt on the station for the Curator at a cost of i;400. The 

 <imount realized hy the sale of plants, etc., was £35 showing 

 an increase of £15 on the iirocee<ls of sales for the previous 

 fifteen months. Experiments with economic plants such as 

 Tanilla, rubber plants, cardamoms, cacao, new varieties of 

 coffee, yams, cassava, tannias, sweet potatos, tibre plants, 

 spices, seedling sugar-canes and tobacco have been carried 

 on. The most promising food plants have been regularly 

 distributed to .settlers and by these means their resources 

 Lave been greatly increased. The experiment in onion 

 yrowing, from seed suiiplied by this Department, was distinctly 

 jiromising and deserves to be repeated on a larger scale. On 

 an outlay of Vis V^d. the net jirofits were 8a- ^hd. The 

 value of the onions imiiorted into Trinidad during tive years 

 was as follow.s:— 189.5, £7,5.37; 1896, £1,905; 1897, 

 X10,.58.3; 1898, £7,857; 1899, £10,431. The total value 

 of the imports for five years 1895-1899 was £41,313. It 

 is evident that if onions could be grown at Tobago to supply, 

 even a portion, of the re [uirements of Trinida 1, a consid 

 ■erable industry might be established in the former island. 

 The results of the exjienditure of the Agricultural (irarit- 

 in-aid at Toliago are fully satisfactory, and ^Ir. Hirt, the 

 Superintendent, the Curator and the Agricultural Instructor 

 deserve credit for the valuable services rendered in carrying 

 out the several duties entrusted to them. 



.ST. KirTS-XEVIS : REVOlir OX THE liOTAXlC 

 ,^TA TIOX, 1901-2. By .Mr. A\'. Lunt, Curator. 



The Curator reports steady ijrogress in the efforts to 

 improve agricultural conditions in the Presidency. The 

 sugar industry has, necessarily, taken the greatest share of 

 attention. A popular summary of the results of the 

 experiments made in this direction during 1901 have already 

 appeared in No. 12 of the Phaniphlet .Series of the Depart- 

 ment. The detailed results are to be found in the Ri-jjotts on 

 S%i(jar-cane Experiments in the Leeward Islmuh : Part I. 

 ' Experiments with varieties of Sugar-cane' and Part II. 

 ' Manurial Experiments,' consisting of 32 and 78 foolscap 

 pages respectively. The importance of other cultivations 

 lias not been lost sight of and experiments in tobacco, onions, 

 English potatos, were carried out. The teachers have 

 received a course of lectures in the principles of Agriculture, 

 and practical work is being carried on by school children on 

 plots in the Botanic Station. 



A half-lired ^Maltese .Jack, three boars, and two rams 

 liave been introiluced by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture in order to improve the breeds of stock at 

 •St. Kitts and Nevis. 



PORTO RICO. 



TOB.iCCO, COFKEE, EKUIT, ItlCE AND COTTON. 



We have elsewhere drawn ;ittenti^>n to the pros- 

 ]i 'cts of Sugar in Porto Rico for the coming .season. 

 'I'ho following extracts fnmi the Consular Report 

 (p. 11.5) on The Tnule of Farfo EU;) ivr imi. aiv: of 

 imieii interest to those engnged in .similar cultivations 

 in till' British West Indies: — 



Tobacco — Great attention is now being paid to the 

 futvue, and serious [ilans are under consideration for the 

 entire control of Porto Kican tobacco interests by the Tobacco 

 TriLsts. 



The year's cro]) is said to have been aliout some 30,000 

 cwts. and to have fetched from .*5.00 to .^6.00 per cwt. but 

 from the demand created it will certainly bring much more 

 in 1902. 



CoflFee — Coffee for the year did better than was fore- 

 casted, producing some 27,000 bags to last year's 12,000 or 

 14,300 bags. When, however, this yield is contrasted witli 

 that of the year before the hurricane, which so effectually 

 devastated the plantations, viz., 22.5,000 bags, it will be 

 seen how much more there is to [tick up to recover the normal 

 output which was estimated to be worth at least £2,000,000. 



The island very naturally feels keenly any deiireciation 

 of its coffee industry, for unlike that of sugar, the bulk of 

 the jirodaction money remains on the .si>ot with the workers. 



Free trade with the United States more than compen- 

 .sating for the loss of Porto Rico's former markets, the present 

 extent of iilanting is sure to be improved upon, although, 

 strange to say, while hearing a great deal of the absorption 

 of sugar and toliacco by the great Trusts, no such fate, 

 appears as yet, to have been prescribed for coffee. 



Oranges. — The prospects of orange growing are 

 encouraging, but considerable time must elapse before 

 sufficient experience is attained by the island ]>lanters to 

 jilace the trade on a business footing. The cai)ital required 

 is not large, but as at least tive years must be passed without 

 remuneration, it is not an attractive .speculation for limited 

 ca[atalists. 



It is claimed tliat Porto Rico, when all conveniences 

 shall be estaljlished, will be able to get its oiunge crop to 

 market at a time wli:-n it will be free from competition and 

 thus reap a great advantage. This, however, remains to be 

 proved by practice. 



During the year considerable quantities of oranges were 

 shipiied to the United States from the western port of 

 Mayaguez, but the business is said not to have been very- 

 brilliant though satisfactory in a sense, owing to the crude 

 methods of handling and packing the fruit a-s well as the too 

 grand exjiectntions of the growers. 



Pine-apples. —Pine cultivation is increasing in favour, 

 all conditions of the situation ai)iiearing to be favourable to 

 their growth, and there is a steady demand for them. How- 

 ever, before the trade in fruit of any kind can arrive at any 

 remarkable growth of importance, quick and regular ti-ans- 

 }iort, b'lth on land and sea, must be organized. 



Rice. — Although a good quantity of rice is raised on 

 the island, entirely for home consumption, it is estimated 

 that all the country can produce must be augmented by at 

 least 20,000 tons of imported grain per annum. 



Cotton. — During the year attention has been directed 

 to the }iossible cultivation of cotton, based upon its former 

 production on the i-sland in 18G9, during the time of the 

 Civil War, when a very fine quality is said to have been 

 raised. There is ample land lying idle fit for the growth of 

 cotton to be bought for about $2.5 per acre. 



